Create brilliance. Without working too hard

There is a brilliance in the pauses, the quiet moments in our life where something rises up to greet us and surprise us with it’s perfection. Where the perfect solution to all that we’ve been wondering about presents itself. With ease. With grace. This post is about how to access that whenever and wherever you need to.

The Challenge

A few weeks ago I was pondering one of my favorite conundrums: how to best serve this particular group? This group are employees at a multi-national firm with offices all over the globe. They have a challenge that’s unique to them: how to navigate a company culture where training new employees by necessity involves telling them all that they’ve done incorrectly? How to keep the staff on board, despite the potentially devastating feedback? I love a challenge like this. I love thinking of the individuals impacted by this and how they’re experience of their work and themselves might shift if I come up with something powerful for them. I imagine all that’s possible, if anything at all were possible. I see amazing things: happy people, confident people, content and capable people. And after that, at some point, the verbal part of my mind inevitably comes in with this: “Yeah, but how could you achieve that? How is that possible?”

Here’s what I do

I acknowledge that part of my mind. I thank it for showing up. And I say “I know you can’t imagine this right now. And that’s OK. That’s not your job. You’re role hasn’t come in yet. I’ll let you know when it has.” Then I surrender to the part of my mind that knows more: the non-verbal part of my brain. The part of my brain that communicates not through language and thought, but through physical sensation. I surrender to the right side of my brain, too. The part of my brain that’s in charge of creativity. I consciously let go of needing to find a solution. Of needing to figure out how. And I start to play.

I love this part.

For the group at this firm, I went for a walk. I let my senses pick up on everything around me, I used it all as stimulation. I set my intention to surrender to what knowing and ideas might come if I just relaxed. And did they ever. I needed to speed-walk home to start getting it all on paper. Each time something occurred to me or rose up in my mind, I entertained it. I dismissed nothing. The image of an apple could lead to a thought train that arrived at a synapse station where a resource or a teaching I could share might be waiting. The word “growth” reminded me of a book with mindset teachings that are just perfect for this group. Suddenly, by saying “I don’t know the answer yet but I’m sure it will come” and consciously relaxing, I had a fully-fleshed out proposal, with a full-scale training and integration just for them.

Know this

I believe we all have this capacity. It’s biological. Our brain can be utilized this way. And one of the best things I’ve ever done is adopt a “No editing, no judgement” approach when I’m creating something–whether it’s the next chapter in my book or working my way through the creation stages for a corporate training. Meditation has helped me with this. Every time I sit down to embrace the relief and grace of dropping into peace, I’m training my mind to drop away from the thoughts that can get in the way of creative, powerful ideas. Once the ideas are in place, I call in the other part of my mind–the left brain and the part that communicates in language and logic. And together, all parts of me join forces to finesse something that will be transformational. It’s like being carried by a river on the way to the ocean. Much love, Lindsey

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